I have come to, what is for me at least, a momentous decision. I have decided to go onto maintenance. I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now and feel it is the right time plus the energy I have put into this has taken a toll on me and it's time to relax a little. I have a lot of stuff to put down here so this is going to be long.

When I started out on this journey I set myself a goal of 55kgs. Upon talking with my doc at about week 6 he suggested going to 60kgs and seeing how I felt then. Well here I am now under 60kgs and I am extremely happy with where I have gotten too, the goals I have met and the overall achievements of my weight loss to date.

What I have achieved.- 26.2kgs lost weight
- 20% approx less body fat (about 6 weeks in I was at 42% and last reading was 23.8%)
- 25cm approx off hips and waist (I didn't measure this from day one but went off my pants that fit snugly at the time)
- Size 18 to a size 10-12 (I got into size 10 pants 2/11/06 but will most likely always be a 12 up top!)
- Now within healthy weight range for my height
- Enjoy exercising and do so most days
- A fitter and healthier person
- Have learnt better eating habits and how to control how much I eat
- I have more energy, get more things done in a day
- I like what I see, how I feel and...actually don't mind my photo being taken now who would have thought it!
- Sausage rolls and savoury pastries are no longer my fave junk food, I don't really have any fave junk food anymore.

The last two may seem silly but savoury pastries were my biggest weakness and I could easily eat 2 large sausage rolls as a snack...these days that equates to 1/2 my cals for the day and double the fat I now have and all from 1 MEAL! Not liking my photo being taken was one of the biggest reasons I started this. So...Yayyy!

Has it been easy? Hell no!! LOL I have been at this 34 weeks all told and have found it extremely difficult especially after reaching the 20kgs mark. The difficulties were more on an emotional/mental level though. I got to a point where I had had enough of watching and thinking about every piece of food I put in my mouth. No I didn't binge or pig out I became angry and couldn't think clearly for about a week and a half, everything was out of whack and I was ready for throwing in the towel. What got me back was realising I am really going to have to be aware of my food intake for the rest of my life. It was, after all, that which got me to FatKim in the first place! So, yes, I can have treats and no it won't affect me much provided they are treats and not an everyday occurrence. Yes, I will eat pretty much what I have been and if I need to increase then it is more of the same healthy stuff and not about adding a chocolate bar or two a day!

So, I have set maintenance goals and limits that I want to stay within which I will set out and I have a plan on how to do this. I am so used to losing weight and have gotten used to the amount of food I eat that there will be some adjusting to do so I will still be monitoring food as much as before but I'm not going to post in the daily food diary as I keep my own anyway. I will still post entries in the exercise diary, I love the exercise I do so I am not planning on changing that at all. I will be doing official weigh-in once a month but will still monitor weekly at home until comfortable.

Maintenance Plan- Continue to do cardio exercise at least 5 days per week
- Continue to do weights for at least 2 days per week
- Maintain weight below 60kgs
- Body fat % between 20-25%
- Monitor food intake daily, monitor progress weekly, weigh-in monthly
- Told hubby to tell me immediately if he sees unhealthy habits creeping in (I am hoping I will pick this up first but it doesn't hurt to have a back up plan!)

My food will pretty much be what it has been but to increase calories without increasing too much bulk the following things are what I will be looking at.

I am used to how much I eat each day and find it really is enough for me so I don't want to just eat bigger portions to add calories, this is where my challenge will be and why I know there will be an 'adjusting' period.

So there you have it! Brave souls indeed to have gotten through all that lot. I will be changing my ticker for that spiffy one put up by Scott and will add some more 'glamorous' photos once they have been taken. Don't hold your breath though as I need new clothes first!

Thanks to Scott and all the weightloss.com.au crew for having a wonderful site where we can get together like this and offer support and encouragement. Thanks so much to all of the forum members for your advice and help along the way. It's surprising how much it can really help. You're all awesome people and I wish you all the best on your journeys. I am no expert but am happy to help out wherever I can.

Congratulations Kim on reaching your target weight and entering into the maintenance phase of your journey.

Your story is an inspirational one and a classic example of how successful weight loss can and should be achieved.

Exercising regularly has helped you burn extra calories and has given you more energy and made you fitter, which has in turn made exercising easier and more enjoyable.

By altering your eating habits and resisting temptation you've actually changed your eating preferences and you no longer crave calorie dense food (like sausage rolls) that added unnecessary calories and fat levels to your diet - which I think proves that as you get healthier and demand more of yourself physically your body actually starts to reject foods that aren't healthy and starts to crave foods that are.

You have been a wonderful member of the weightloss forum and have won many of our Weight loss Challenges. In doing so you have also been a wonderful help to those around you who have similar goals to you and have helped motivate and inspire us all.

As the first of our current forum members to enter their hard-earnded maintenance phase I'd like to welcome you as the very first "official" Maintenance Crew member.

well done kim what a great read that was im so proud of you dont forget to get that funky maintenance crew logo that scott suggested in his other post. we will be calling on you for your wonderful knowledge and we are all still here for you should you need us!! hugs

Kim you truley are an inspiration to me.
We all know how hard it is to loose weight, but to reach your goal is a fantastic example that it can be done.
With hard work dedication and planning you have shown the rest of us still on our journey, the right way to accomplish it.
And i'm sure you will continue to lead by exceptional example of how to maintain the loss and healthy lifestyle by staying at your goal of under 60 kg.

Thank you for letting me share in this life altering journey, I look forward to learning from you in the future. Well done Kim you are a weight loss shining star...................................

Kim that is fantastic. I loved reading through your journey and I want to thank you for all your support and kind words. I am glad that you are now on maintainence, you have worked so hard to get there and I think you are amazing. Well done Kim!!!

I so enjoyed reading through your post and can't wait for the day when I can join you as a maintenance crew member. You have been very disciplined and have made some huge lifestyle changes - what an inspiration you are to all of us!

I am so pleased to see you reach your goal Kim. You have stuck to your plan and achieved it in a relatively short time. I remember when you first joined the forum and people at work werent that supportive of you. I bet you feel so good when you go to to work. I know I would. I'd love to stick my tongue out at them and say see I can do it!!! And I have every confidence in you that you will stay under 60kgs. Its good that you have a few kgs to play with. If you go on hols you can drink a bit more alcohol or have dip and biscuits and just know that for the few weeks later you can just work a little harder. As I have always said Kim, I am so proud of you!!! You have inspired so many people on this site. Hope to see you in this topic with my weight being under 60kgs too!!! Big hug and pat on the back!!!

Well I am a very happy chappy. I had a check up with the doc as I had some blood tests recently that I requested to see just where everything was given the big lifestyle changes over the last 8 months.

Blood pressure = 122/70

Thyroid and liver function = normal

Cholesterol = 3.2 (doc was very impressed here and said the breakdown showed more good LDL cholesterol than bad HDL cholesterol and that he doesn't often see figures that low except from people on dedicated cholesterol reducing meds, I did a dance for that one).

Haemoglobin count = 139 However, he said iron stores are a bit low (I have a history of this) and suggested I go back on the ferrous gradumet tablets every 2-3 days for a top up, I used to take these daily but we dropped them off about 5 months ago as iron stores were fine. Have been doing a bit of research on recommended iron levels and iron rich foods to see if I can tweak the diet a bit for more iron.

I think I have found an easy way of increasing calories without too much bulk. Orange juice plus it has the added benefit of aiding iron absorption.

LOL so now you not only know what I look like on the outside but on the inside too...not sure if it will make much sense but there you have it anyway.

Take care all and keep up the fantastic work. Stay focused you will make your goals.